Hi there, I wonder if anyone can help my partner has a son age 5 whom he claims higher rate dla for, he is the main carer for him even tho he technically spends equal nights with his mother. he is registered for everything at his dads address and he claims UC and child benefit for him. His mother left the family home and didnt bother about these things at the time but now my step son is eligible for a mobility vehicle she is sniffing around claiming she wants the dla in her name, where do we stand if she disputes it? Any ideas, thanks so much xx
Hi Elizabeth.
A potential family dispute … with a 5 years old child involved ?
As for the child , who is the legal guardian … his mother / your partner ?
Who is protecting the child’s interests ?
CAB in the first instance … they will spell out the legal position of the parties involved :
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
The very last thing for all concerned is to escalate any dispute to a family court of law ?
CAB … and don’t spare the horses.
Hello and welcome!
I claim DLA for my little brother- high rate mobility and low rate care. Citizen’s Advice can assist you with the forms. If you need help or have any other questions, please private message me for more information.
Some of the money we get helps to pay for his wheelchair. I also buy all his adaptive equipment using that money. Our adapted wheelchair friendly car is paid for using his allowance too. Why does she want it for herself? Can you apply without telling her?
This is really simple. She walked out on him!!
What mother would do that to her child. Surely she has forfeited any rights at all by her action?
However, if she is caring for her son alternate nights then when her son is with her, then he should have the use of that vehicle during that time.
Dad can be the main driver. She can be a nominated named driver and doesn’t need to have the award in her name.
Something that people tend to forget about a motability vehicle is that it is for the person for whom the DLA is claimed - in this case your partner’s son. The car can only be used by or for the person with the DLA. Consequently if the boy is spending half a week with his mother then she should have the vehicle whilst he is with her & your partner should have it when he is with him.
People have a habit of using a motability car as a family car but the use is actually quite restricted. You can use the car to go food shopping for the household which includes the DLA claimant but you can’t use it unrelated things - such as taking a sibling to ballet class.
If you choose not to have a motability car but rather the money then it should be used for transporting the boy - taxis, petrol, trains etc. So if the mother has the boy for half the week surely she should have half the money as presumably she has half the costs?
Just a side note about registered drivers on the motability vehicle - there is a limit as to how far from the claimants registered address other registered drivers can live. I am fairly sure it is 5 miles. So if the child’s mother lives more than 5 miles away then she cannot become a driver of the motability car. If she wasn’t able to drive the car for this reason then you would need to be careful about what you used it for whilst the boy was with his mother.